Flight Centre chief fights coal mines

Flight Centre
chief executive
Graham Turner
has turned up the heat in a battle to prevent coalmines being opened up alongside nature reserves and residential communities in south-east Queensland.

Mr Turner, who owns the 5000-hectare Spicers Hidden Vale rural property near a proposed mine south-west of Ipswich, said he would instigate legal action against the listed coal company
OGL Resources
and/or the state government if the mines in question were opened.

“I estimate there are about 400 properties that will be either directly or indirectly affected by the mines," Mr Turner said.

“But you have to realise most of these people are battlers. They are not wealthy and can’t really take on the big miners and the government."

Mr Turner and wife Jude, whose wealth is estimated to be around $349 million in the BRW Rich List, are determined to prevent any mining close by because of the aesthetic, environmental and noise impacts.

One of the mines – OGL Resources’ Ebenezer – has previously produced more than 20 million tonnes of thermal coal for the domestic market and has been allowed to reopen under the instruction of Employment, Skills and Mining Minister
Stirling Hinchliffe
.

However, two landholders separate to Mr Turner have applied to the Supreme Court to set aside the minister’s decision.

Mr Hinchliffe said in a statement: “We have a system in place of sensible and workable solutions to ensure the prosperity of Queensland and strike the right balance between government, community and the environment, and I can assure that the correct legal processes will be followed."